Wallabies Coach Joe Schmidt Refuses to Contemplate Historic Grand Slam After Crushing Wales
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has downplayed the possibility of his team achieving a first grand slam success in 40 years, despite their resounding 52-20 victory over Wales in Cardiff. The win, the biggest for Australia against Wales in over a century of clashes between the two nations, saw the Wallabies rack up an impressive 96 points across their opening two matches on the UK tour.
“Too far away to contemplate,” he said of the grand slam prospect. “We have talked about regenerating well tonight and making sure we don’t miss our flight to Edinburgh, get the front half of the week right and see what comes in the back half of the week.”
The Wallabies raced to a 19-0 lead before Wales fought back to trail by just six points at half-time. But Australia regained their composure in the second half, with hat-tricks from hooker Matt Faessler and fullback Tom Wright helping them seal a resounding victory.
“I thought the composure was really good,” said Schmidt. “Because at 19-13, you can start to feel you’re suffocating and I thought we lost our shape, even towards the end of the first half. We got a bit ragged. It was to get some momentum back in that second half and I felt in the last quarter we put some good stuff together again.”
The Wallabies’ impressive form has seen them score 96 points in their opening two matches, with victories over England and now Wales. However, Schmidt is wary of the challenge posed by Scotland, who have enjoyed a strong autumn campaign so far.
“I have massive respect for Scotland. They will be very tough. I have no doubt we have to go up again against Scotland,” he said. “They’ve had a really good autumn so far, they were very competitive in the Six Nations, obviously beating England in a cracking game.”
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